The night sky on Friday evening hosted a stunning, golden-hued Strawberry Moon, the first full moon of the summer season.
The name “full moon” is linked to the strawberry season, as this type of berry ripens and begins to be picked around this time in the United States.
This month's full moon will be at its peak on Friday, June 21, one day after the summer solstice, and will shine in the constellation Sagittarius. The moon will also appear bright and full on Thursday, June 20 and Saturday, June 22.
The approaching full moon to the solstice, or the beginning of the astronomical summer season, will have a noticeable visual impact, as the moon will appear larger than ever before.
The Moon's orbit around the Earth is closely aligned with the Earth's orbit around the Sun. On the summer solstice (which is the longest day of the year), the sun is at its highest point, and the full moon is opposite it at its lowest point. Therefore, this month's full moon on the 21st will be the lowest full moon of the year. It is also the furthest full moon from the sun this year. This is because Earth's slightly elliptical orbit around the Sun takes it to its furthest distance on July 5. This point is the Earth's annual apogee. Therefore, the closest full moon to that date must be the annual apogee.
Because the Moon will be at a very low altitude, it will appear larger than ever before, which is called the “Moon illusion” (an optical illusion in which the Moon appears larger near the horizon than when it is high in the sky).
Despite its name, the Strawberry Moon does not usually appear pink or red. Instead, this year's June full moon may appear to glow golden, tending to orange or yellow due to the low arc of the moon across the sky, which means that the moonlight will It travels through more of Earth's atmosphere, a process similar to the scattering of light in the atmosphere during sunrise and sunset.